This is an excerpt from a blog post I did in 2016 after visiting the Inverroche Gin distillery.
In case you aren’t aware of what Inverroche is, it is a gin brand that has been making headlines all over the world, because they incorporate fynbos from the area into their gin. They use fynbos from three different areas, resulting in three unique gins:
- Inverroche Classic – made with limestone fynbos
- Inverroche Verdant – infused with mountainous fynbos
- Inverroche Amber – a woody gin distilled with coastal fynbos
Every day at 13:00 you can go on a distillery tour (booking essential) to learn some of the background of the distillery, and of course, indulge in a little tasting session.
Now I’m not a big fan of gin. (edit: Oh, how far I’ve come. It is now my favourite! Beer is still fine, but gin? Yes, please.) I’ll admit that a good gin and tonic on a hot summer day can be wonderful, and I love dry gin martinis, but yes, given a choice I’m most likely going to go for a beer. That said, the tasting session made me reconsider. Each of the variants were tried neat, with a sliver of citrus peel, and with tonic water. In a group of five on the tour, I was the only one who liked the Inverroche Verdant the most, paired with lemon peel and tonic water. A poll among my colleagues indicated that Inverroche Amber is the most popular choice though.
Shop, shop, shop
After the tasting you can of course buy some gin at the distillery, as well as the seven-year aged rum they produce. You will also find glassware and gin jam (in two sizes and two flavours: strawberry (yum!) and kumquat) on sale.
And while I didn’t buy any for myself (some lucky people will get jam and one person will receive a bottle of Inverroche Amber gin), I did leave with the correct ratio for a perfect G&T: one part gin to four parts tonic water.
So after a morning of hopeful whale watching – if you’re luck and patient; Stilbaai has a great lookout point – maybe visit the Inverroche Distillery to stock up for summer sundowners.
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